Louisiana · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
Louisiana bars construction-defect suits against surveyors, designers and contractors more than 5 years after the owner accepts the work (or occupies it, if no acceptance is recorded). Because this is a "peremptive" period rather than an ordinary deadline, it generally cannot be paused or extended. The one built-in escape is fraud. If you bought a new home from its builder, the New Home Warranty Act is your only remedy against the builder: 1 year for defects generally, 2 years for plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling and ventilation, and 5 years for major structural defects, running from the first transfer of title or first occupancy, and later owners are covered for the rest of the term (La. R.S. 9:3141-3150).
What you have
The deadline does not protect a builder who concealed the problem.
In Louisiana, a claim of fraud, concealment or serious misconduct is not cut off by the ordinary construction deadline (La. R.S. 9:2772(H)).
THE DEADLINE DOES NOT PROTECT FRAUD. Louisiana's five-year construction bar (La. R.S. 9:2772) is a "peremptive" period — normally it cannot be paused or extended at all — but it does not protect a defendant whose fraud caused the damages (§ 9:2772(H)). The clock runs from the recording of the owner's acceptance, or from occupancy if no acceptance is recorded within six months, so the five years can start early.
The deadline
5 years to bring a construction-defect claim
La. R.S. 9:2772(A)
5 years — and it is a PEREMPTIVE period (peremption), not an ordinary prescription: it extinguishes the right itself and, apart from the express fraud exception, cannot be interrupted, suspended or renounced (La. R.S. 9:2772(A)). The clock runs from registry of acceptance of the work, or from the owner's occupancy/possession if no acceptance is recorded. FRAUD CARVE-OUT: the peremptive period "shall not apply to an action ... against any person ... whose fraud has caused the breach of contract or damages sued upon" (§ 9:2772(H)). The period was historically 10 years, then 7, now 5 — confirm the version applicable. Louisiana's New Home Warranty Act (R.S. 9:3141 et seq.) is a separate regime.
“no action ... shall be brought ... more than five years after the date of registry in the mortgage office of acceptance of the work by owner.”
Before you sue: We have not yet confirmed whether Louisiana requires written notice to the builder before a lawsuit. Some states do, and skipping it can get a case stayed or dismissed. Ask a Louisiana attorney before filing.
What to do now
Write it down the day you notice it. Photograph it with something for scale. Note the date, the room, and what you saw. If it gets worse, photograph it again - a sequence is far stronger than one picture. Keep every message with the builder. You are not starting a fight; you are keeping the option open. Some states require written notice to the builder before you can sue. We have not confirmed whether Louisiana does, so check with a licensed attorney before filing. A record made at the time is what most people are missing later.
The same defect, a different answer next door
The construction-defect deadline is a state-by-state accident of geography. The identical crack in the identical house can be dead in one state and live in another.